I Love You Too
by Annabeth AKA Mrs. Jackson
Summary: Is it too late to be posting a MOA reunion oneshot? Probably. Whatever! Based on the line "I don't know who to be without you around," from Breathe by Taylor Swift and a quote from The Great Gatsby, "The loneliest moment in someone's life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart, and all they can do is stare blankly." Very Percabethy. Pretty well written, so enjoy!


**HEY Y'ALL! SO I KNOW I'M WAY TO LATE TO BE POSTING A STORY ABOUT THE MOA REUNION BUT I GOT THIS LITTLE THOUGHT BUBBLE IN MY HEAD...SO ENJOY!**!

Annabeth paced the deck nervously. She hadn't been this anxious in a while; years, even. She was on the Argo II, the masterpiece that Leo, son of Hephaestus, had constructed. It was beautifully designed, but Annabeth was too preoccupied to notice.

_Breathe_, she told herself, _Just breathe. _

Now you're probably thinking: Annabeth, daughter of Athena, not noticing the masterful architecture surrounding her? What in Hades could she be so upset about?

No, it wasn't the fact that she would soon be embarking on a life-threatening quest that would most likely end in a battle royale. No, little Miss Chase was worried about seeing her boyfriend again.

Well, maybe that's too trivial a way to put it. Perseus Jackson had been missing for eight months, after being abducted by the goddess of marriage, and there was a 99.9% chance he had no memories of their life together _at all. _

So Annabeth had good reason to be worried.

She began to hyperventilate, on the verge of a panic attack. She wanted to see Percy again with every fiber of her being, but her fear was overwhelming. She couldn't bear to imagine what she would do if he didn't recognize her. She was to used to be looked at with love by those sea green eyes, a look of indifference would have been unbearable.

The last eight months had been unbearable, come to think of it. She had been at her loneliest, the end of her rope. There was a slight incident with Drew that resulted in Annabeth being stuck on dish duty for a month. But she honestly couldn't help it. She just secluded herself from happiness, from people, from _life_. People came to avoid her, except for a few of her friends. What she wanted most was to be alone, and yet somehow that was almost the worst.

A quote from The Great Gatsby kept spinning around inside her head, "The loneliest moment in someone's life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart, and all they can do is stare blankly."

With this, tears threatened to fall. Her breathing was still shallow and rapid and she felt like her lungs were collapsing.

She ran to her room as fast as she was able, not willing to let anyone see her like this. The one person who would have calmed her down, who she needed most, was in Camp Jupiter, and she felt lost.

She was ashamed to be so hung up over a guy. As an Athenian, she always believed that emotions were inferior to knowledge. Wisdom trumped all. Until Percy Jackson was added to the equation. She didn't know exactly when she fell for him - it could have been when he stood up to Mr. D on his first day, or when he doused Clarisse with toilet water. Either way, it was early on, and she didn't know what to do. It was different from how she felt with Luke. It was different from how she felt with anyone.

Percy was more than just a guy to her. He was her best friend, her boyfriend, her rock in the midst of a storm. He was the one person who had stayed when others hadn't. And let's be honest, when a guy holds up the sky for you, it kind of seals the deal.

So now Annabeth was on her knees in her room, head spinning, trying to cling to her last ounce of sanity before everything came crashing down.

_Pull yourself together,_ she told herself, _You are Annabeth Chase. You can do this. _

But even her name sounded wrong with Percy gone. Hollow. Lonesome. _Empty_. She had gotten used to introducing them as a pair.

"I'm Annabeth Chase, this is Percy Jackson."

Annabeth and Percy. Percy and Annabeth.

They went together. They _belonged_ together. She didn't know who to be without him around.

Sometimes she would see something and turn her head to tell him about it, and as quickly as it came, the smile would slide off her face.

She could forget about it for the most part, pretend Percy was with Sally for a couple days, or just not think about it. But every once in a while, it was like reality would come crashing down on her. Literally. She would have to clutch onto whatever was nearest just to remain standing. Her face would go slack and she would just stop. Whatever she was doing, she would stop, freeze. Her mind would be reeling, trying to wrap itself around the fact that he was _gone_.

Of course, she never had these moments in front of anybody else. She swallowed the sadness and put on a plastic smile and danced through her daily routines. The older campers knew she was off, but knew her well enough to not say a word if they valued their lives.

Annabeth rose shakily from the floor. She stumbled to the sink and washed her face.

Looking at herself in the mirror she said out loud, "You have to be strong. No one will see you like this. You hear me? Pull. It. Together. There is no room for weakness in the Roman camp."

She took a deep breath and left her room. She escalated the stairs up to the top deck again. There she saw Jason and Piper and Leo standing in a line, gazing down upon New Rome.

She felt like throwing up. She almost thought she couldn't do it. For a split second, her brain started to back out and surrender to the strong longing for her room. But she only faltered for a minute before tightening her ponytail and taking a deep breath.

_This ends today, whether he remembers me or not. _

The air seemed to fly upwards as the ship descended. She felt like a model in a hair commercial because the wind seemed to make her ponytail drift through the air. She almost laughed at the idea but refrained because she knew it wasn't the time to be laughing.

One look at Jason, and she could see how hard this was for him. His memory was completely back, sure, but there was no way for him to know what had happened at his home while he was staying at Camp Half-Blood. He had the feeling he wasn't praetor anymore, because he had missed the Feast of Fortuna by a day. The realization that he had lost the title that he held most close was like a slap to the face for Jason, Annabeth could tell. He had smiled and explained that Octavian had most likely been elected and the Camp would be fine. But Annabeth had been raised reading people, and she knew. But she didn't say anything, because she also knew how hard losing something, someone, you loved was.

She was pulled from her thoughts by the soft thump of the rope bridge hung off the side of the ship. Jason has explained to then that there was a boundary that you couldn't cross with weapons, the Pomerian Line, and so they had determined that the best way to most amicably reach the Romans was to descend from above.

Jason looked at her and smiled weakly, and she nodded. The order had been predetermined as well. Jason, herself, Piper, Leo. They had all agreed this was best because Annabeth was the most Roman, second to Jason. She was strong, silent, and knew when to keep her emotions in check. In other words, she was the ideal soldier to a harsh and militaristic camp.

Jason began the slow climb, and Annabeth readied herself at the prow of the ship. Jason was to greet the Romans, explain that a Greek would be joining them, and if all went well that would be Annabeth's cue. And if _that_ went okay, Piper and Leo would follow suit.

Annabeth peered over the edge, her ADHD getting the better of her willpower. There she saw something she most certainly didn't expect: Percy in Jason's face, visibly upset about something.

Jason was holding his hands out in a peaceful gesture and after a few seconds, pointed up to the ship.

Percy seemed to calm down and then gestured for Jason to come up to the top of the ship.

This was not going well at all. Percy must've not gotten his memory back, and from the toga he was wearing, he was their new praetor. With a gasp, Annabeth realized what was happening. Percy was sending them away. He was telling Jason to get back on the ship and_ get out_.

Jason flew up into the air and headed towards Annabeth and Piper and Leo.

But when he arrived, the story he told was much different than the ghastly picture Annabeth had painted in her head.

"He's demanding I carry you down there," Jason told Annabeth with a shrug.

"What?" Annabeth choked out.

"He won't start discussing _anything_ until you're down there and he can talk to you. He started freaking out when only I went down. He couldn't see you standing here from all the way down there and thought something bad had happened to you," Jason explained as he thudded to a standing position next to Annabeth and wrapped an arm around her waist to bring her down, "So I guess you're coming down with me."

Annabeth didn't respond, just held onto Jason's arm so she didn't plunge through the air during the trip towards the Camp.

She could only stutter out disbelieving words the whole way, the majority of them, "He remembers me? He remembers me?"

By the time her feet touched solid ground, her head had cleared and her face was set in it's usual determined scowl. She flashed a thankful smile at Jason when he let her go and took a step away. He obviously didn't want Percy yelling at him again, this time about being to close to his girlfriend.

She glanced up, only to be staring into the face she once had been sure she would never see again.

His green eyes were flooded with relief, and he was staring at her like she was a goddess or something. He was smiling, and he seemed so genuinely happy to see her, it made her blush.

"Oh thank the gods," he muttered, before stepping up and kissing her.

Annabeth felt like she was going to pass out and explode and throw up all at the same time. She had never felt so conflicted. She had missed this so much it was indescribable, but she was also so mad that it made her want to stab him. Literally.

Annabeth pulled away, immediately missing the sense of warmth being so close to him provided and the overpowering smell of the sea she found so comforting.

"I am going to _kill_ you," she said quietly.

The entirety of the roman camp took a collective step back. Apparently she wasn't as quiet as she had hoped.

But Percy didn't even flinch. He smirked at her and said, "You won't want to kill me after I tell you something."

She glared at him and put her hands on her hips, "Wanna bet?"

He nodded smugly and teased, "You can't kill me - I'm the best boyfriend ever. And you'll agree if you hear me out!"

She sighed and begrudgingly agreed to listen to him.

"When I was kidnapped," he began, "Hera had me sleeping for months. I dreamt and dreamt. But never about myself. About one person in particular. And then when I woke up, I didn't remember my past. I didn't remember my mom. I didn't remember Grover. I didn't remember Tyson, or Chiron, or Rachel, or Clarisse, or Travis and Connor, or anyone. Except for one person. Wanna guess who that one person is?"

He took a step closer and whispered, "You."

Annabeth threw herself at him and wrapped her arms around his neck and he laughed and hugged her back. She wriggled out of his grasp and she looked at him accusingly.

"I swear to all the gods, even _Hera_, if you ever do that again...well, let's just say, you won't be able to charm your way back into my heart. I'll kill you before you get the chance. Understood?"

He smiled and she reached out as if to hug him, but when he got close enough she wrapped her slender hand around his wrist and twisted. He fell to his knees with his arm at a seemingly unnatural angle.

"Umm, before you hurt me too badly, I'm just gonna let you know that I lost the Curse of Achilles, so please don't break me," he said quickly.

She didn't release his arm.

"Oh, I know you lost the curse. No way they would have let you into the Roman camp with a Grecian curse, you wouldn't have made it past the river in the front of the camp. But I'm _very_ disappointed that you thought I would actually let you off that easy," she said in a cold, menacing tone.

She noticed a couple Romans who looked scared of her, a couple who looked like they respected her, and two in the front who seemed downright worried for Percy's safety.

"Months, Percy. Months. Not a single Iris Message, not a word to your _girlfriend_, who was worried out of her mind and didn't sleep for more than an hour every night! What were you doing?" she demanded, words spilling out before she could stop them.

He looked more upset with each word she spoke she shut up and he explained that his Iris Messages weren't working and he loved her very much and - he faltered.

She immediately let go of his wrist and he shot to his feet. No one said a word.

"You - You love me?" Annabeth repeated in disbelief.

He blushed and started stuttering, "I didn't mean - I, well, I - yeah, I guess I love you."

Annabeth hugged him fiercely and whispered in his ear, "I've been waiting for years for you to say that. I love you too."


End file.
